Rafael Nadal becomes the 1st player to qualify for ATP Finals 2018
The world no. 1 in Men's tennis at the moment, Rafael Nadal, becomes the 1st player to qualify for 2018 Nitto ATP Finals which will be held from November 11, 2018, in London. Nadal qualified for the prestigious tournament for the 14th straight year with his Quarter-final victory over World No. 7 Marin Cilic in the Rogers Cup.
It might come as a surprise to many that the World No. 1 has failed to win this elite tournament even once in his entire career, having reached the final twice in 2010 & 2013. Nadal will also be looking to finish as the year-end world no. 1 for the 5th time in his career and 1st time in consecutive years having finished the previous year as a world no. 1.
Having shared No. 1 ranking with Roger Federer throughout the 2018 season, Nadal has a great chance to increase the lead by winning his 4th Rogers Cup where he will play the final against World No. 27 Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday. Since his return from a hip injury in April, Nadal has played some scintillating tennis having an impressive Win-Loss record of 38-3 in 2018, winning Monte Carlo Masters, Barcelona Open, and French Open for an unprecedented 11th time each.
During 2018, Nadal also completed his 900 career wins, becoming only the 5th player to do so in the past 50 years. In Race to London, behind Rafael Nadal is Germany's Alexander Zverev, closely followed by Roger Federer at no. 3.
Kevin Anderson, 2018 Wimbledon runner-up is also looking to book his place in the prestigious tournament for the 1st time and currently sits at 8th in the table facing stiff competition from John Isner.
Del Potro, Novak Djokovic, Dominic Thiem and Marin Cilic are also on course to make it to London. ATP Tour Final promises to be an interesting tournament with an amazing group of players, however, others still have a chance to qualify with US Open yet to shift some positions up & down as defending champion Gregor Dimitrov will look to make a last push to get a shot on defending his title.